Go dog Go!

 

This spring the snow line has moved up the mountain quite quickly, and these days you can only ski down to the top of the jibber. But what snow we do have is all corned up and fast. It's actually better skiing than what we've had most of the winter except you have to hike a lot further than you did earlier in the winter.

My dogs love to chase me when I ski down the mountain. Bode is incredibly fast and often passes me when we get to the less steep parts of the run. Red is always the next fastest and Rey takes up the tail end of the pack. Yesterday Red and Rey even rough-housed and rolled down the first steep section.

Patick

some new snow

Wakefield Fisheries Symposium

 

Yesterday I presented a paper at the Wakefield Fisheries Symposium. It was a re worked version of the paper I presented at the SAA's - I cut some of the archaeology and added a few slides related to how the Alutiiq adapted to the vicissitudes of life in the Gulf of Alaska in the past. In any case, I remembered that back in the day my dad wrote a story about Lowell Wakefield and the King Crab Industry for Time Magazine. My mom and dad visited Kodiak, Anchorage and Homer back in 1967 while my dad worked on the story (photos below). So I went on the internet and tracked it down (see article below).

Lowell Wakefield became a very important man in the Alaska fishing industry and for the last 34 years every year there has been a fisheries symposium held in his honor. It's actually a pretty prestigious symposium and people come from all over the world to attend it. It's usually held in Anchorage but this year they had it in Kodiak and the theme was Marine Heat Waves. 

My dad's article is worth reading and very much relevant today. Warming oceans and declining sea food prices are hurting fishing communities. In the mid 20th century Lowell Wakefield created and marketed an entirely new segment in the fisheries industry - King Crab. Perhaps the industry could (and should!) do something similar with another previously under-appreciated type of seafood.

Patrick

My dad's story about Lowell Wakefield

My mom and family friend on arrival at Kodiak from Homer

Snow machines at the new Port Wakefield (Port Lions)

Crab boat crewman

Blueberry Flowers

 

On Monday I went for a walk with the dogs in Abercrombie and found that the blueberries are finally blooming. This is another of those spring events that I note and it tells me if spring is early or not. Generally the blueberries first blossom in mid to late April, and they have bloomed as early as February and March. So this year they are late. Normally by this time the salmonberries are getting ready to bloom, but yesterday I checked on them too and they are even budding yet. So it is a late spring this year.  That said, it is a weird spring because on high we barely have any snow left. Yesterday when I went for a ski I could only go to the top of the jibber. Normally I am still skiing to almost the road. The first blueberry blossoms usually coincide with the max snow pack on the mountain. But this year the first blossoms are a month later than the Max snowpack on the mountain.

Patrick

My SAA Field Trip

 

The highlight of my trip to San Fransisco was the 'GeoArch' field trip on the first day. 'GeoArch' is a blend of geology, geography and archaeology. It considers the landscape and archaeology. What did the place look like in the past and how has it changed through time. On Kodiak when I look for archaeological sites I am constantly 'modeling' the paleo shoreline in my head to help me find sites. It helps to know what old beach ridges, wave-cut terraces, and paleo-shorelines look like. So I was excited to go on the fieldtrip. 

There were a bunch of us and we travelled in two buses almost an hour and a half North of San Fransisco to the mouth of the Russian River. This is really close to Fort Ross which has a strong Alutiiq connection, and the river is named after the same Russians who were in Alaska at the same time. Up there we got to check out some old sea stacks that had been rubbed by mammoths. We also checked out some caves, and midden sites and learned about coastal erosion. I also learned that the geology is really similar to that of Kodiak island. They even have a radiolarian red chert that is exactly analogous to Kodiak's red chert. Both regions represent the sediment scraped off of the Pacific Plate as it subducted under the continental plate.

It was also a spectacular day and I got a pretty good sunburn on my face.

Patrick

Pelicans

I gather this plant is horribly invasive and was used to stabilize dune erosion

A cave shelter site

A very pretty invasive plant!

Mammoth rocks

San Fransisco

 

I am at the 'SFO' airport eating breakfast in the Alaska Lounge and my San Fransisco sojourn is over. Funnily enough, other than an SAA field trip to the Russian River on the first day (post to come), I never left the neighbourhood of my hotel in the 'Tenderloin'. I spent almost all of my time at the conference itself where I explored the world at the various sessions. 

I learned about Mayan salt works, earth ovens in Texas, the Kelp Highway, colonisation of Islands in SE Asia 17K years ago, and much, much more. I also socialised with other archaeologists. Normally I only go to the Alaskan archaeology meetings and at those meeting I generally only talk to the same people year after year. The Alaska meetings are sort of like a high school reunion that happens every year. In contrast, at the SAAs I knew very few people, and was a bit out of my comfort zone. For this reason I was a more out going and met a lot of new people. 

I came to San Fransisco expecting to find a city plagued with petty crime and homelessness. This is the stuff you read about on the national news. Instead I found the Tenderloin neighbourhood where I was staying to be quite pleasant.  So near the end of the conference I was surprised to hear  that it is considered a 'shoddy' area of San Fransisco. This surprised me. A couple of years ago when I visited Seattle it was far, far worse.  So I guess you can't believe everything you read!

Patrick

My SAA Presentation

This afternoon I am presenting my paper at the SAAs. The paper is basically a summary of the Alutiiq Museum's survey work on Kodiak's big salmon systems, and then the subsequent excavations near Karluk Lake over the last 6 years.  Basically we came up with various theories during our survey work and then tested them with focused excavations at various sites. The excavations have been sponsored by Koniag the landowner. Below I have attached the abstract (as an image) and a few of the talk slides to whet your appetite.

Eventually the museum will record the talk as a video and it will be posted on our website. But if you are interested in hearing it live and are attending the SAAs my talk is at 2:15 in session #313.

Patrick

The View from my Room

 

Full moon setting over the Pacific

Right now for work I am attending a conference in San Fransisco. It is the Annual Meeting for the Society of  America Archaeologists. For archaeologists this is the BIG meeting and there are thousands of other archaeologists from all over the world at the meeting. Every year I usually just go to the more regional Alaska Anthropological Association meeting. But this year, for the first time in 18 years, I decided to go the Big Time meeting.

The last time I went to the SAA meeting it was in Vancouver. This year it is in San Fransisco. It is not a coincidence - I like to go to the SAAs when they are meeting in a city I want to visit. Funnily enough, as a kid I actually lived in San Fransisco. But it has been 58 years since I last was here and my only memory of the city from childhood was driving across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Anyway, here I am in San Fransisco, and my hotel room has the most incredible view. I can even see the Golden Gate Bridge. I can't stop looking out at the view from my window!

Patrick

That's the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance

Bar at the top of the hotel